Save Time and Money with Our Guide to the Best Laser Bore Sighters

Sighting in a rifle can be a pain at the best of times. Depending on your favored caliber, it can also get expensive in a hurry. Instead of blindly groping with your shots until you finally get that fancy new scope dialed in, you can use the best laser bore sighter you can find to make sure that you’re on target within just a few shots rather than spending all afternoon missing the target entirely.

How to Use a Laser Bore Sighter

Using a laser bore sighter is one of the best ways to save on the often costly process of sighting in new optics. If you’re shooting at 100 yards, a typical distance for a medium powered rifle, it can often take quite a few rounds before you even manage to match up with the target.

What you shouldn’t expect is for the gadget to do all the work. You’re still going to have to fire a few shots in order to make sure that things line up. It can get you in the range quickly, however, and there’s a couple more uses for them that people often don’t think of.

What you’re going to do is match the scope’s crosshair to the laser. Differing laser types have slightly different methods, and some will even come with a handy little reflective chart which is made of grid squares to sight in for further distances.

You should be able to quickly and easily get things done, even in your own backyard, and from there you can take your rifle to the range with confidence that you’ll be able to get things sighted in without wasting a ton of ammunition.

Field Use of a Laser Bore Sighter

Quite often people will just use a laser bore sighter within their home before they take a new set of optics to the range. They’re actually quite a bit more useful than that and many hunters will find them invaluable one they pick up a little secret.

Take your bore sighter to the range with you when you zero in the scope. Make sure you’re perfectly on track, and then reattach the gadget.

Once you do, mark off ten yards on a small target with the crosshairs. Mark down the exact location of the laser compared to the crosshair.

This will let you easily re-zero your scope in case it gets banged in the field. We’ve all managed to drop a rifle or had a friend pick it up by the scope, both of which will mess up your zero quite a bit.

Now you’ll be able to easily get your sights back on track the next time something happens in the field without having to alert your prey by firing any shots.

How to Pick Your Laser Bore Sighter

Since there’s so many of them on the market, it can be hard to make sure that you end up with the bore sighter which is right for you. Give the following qualities some consideration before you make an investment and you’ll be in good hands.

Type

There are a few ﻿﻿different﻿﻿ types of laser bore sighter and each has their own advantages and disadvantages.

In-chamber laser bore sights tend to be super accurate. They’re also quite cheap, but there’s a catch: you’ll have to buy one which is chambered in the round that you’re planning on firing.

From there you just turn it on and load it into the gun like you would a standard round. If you only have one or two guns then they’re a good option to look at, but many of us have multiple calibers and it can get exhausting keeping track of a half dozen or more of them.

Magnetic bore sights are usable with a wide variety of firearms. They all have a different system for making sure that they fit correctly, but they’re the best option for those who own a lot of different calibers.

In most cases, you’ll be able to move a smooth gradation from .22LR to .50BMG without having to worry about having the right size for your rifle. Most people will opt to use these types, but be aware that they also tend to cost more.

Laser Color

Laser color is a bit more than just aesthetic. Bore sighters are usually available with red or green lasers and which one you go with depends on what you’re planning on using it for.

Red lasers are harder to use during the day but cheaper and run less risk of accidentally damaging your eye. Since you’ll be aiming out, reflection is a big deal. Make sure you don’t hit any overly reflective surfaces.

Red lasers are great indoors or if you’re sighting in at night but they suffer from some visibility issues during the day. In particular, cheaper lasers will be harder to see and scatter quite a bit once you get past 10 yards or so.

Green lasers are more expensive, but also amazingly easy to see in any conditions. You also want to be careful when you’re using a green laser as they can damage eyes in a hurry.

Most people would overall be better served with a green laser, they tend to be more tightly focused as well as offering a lot more visibility.

That isn’t to say that red lasers can’t be used in a quality bore sighter, just that they tend to be cheaper and most low-quality sighters will use one.

Laser Intensity

The intensity of the laser on the bore sighter can be just as important as the color. A more intense laser will allow you to make sure that you can easily see it in sunnier conditions while a weaker one might be hard to spot outside of fifteen yards when the sun is bearing down.

The diffraction of the laser beam also plays a role. Some lasers will get rather large at longer distances, which makes them harder to rely on if you’re using them at long distances.

Battery Life

Battery life is an important factor for those who are using theirs frequently. Good batteries can last for upwards of forty hours of continuous use, while inefficient electronics might give you only a couple of hours.

While this wouldn’t normally be an issue, most of the batteries used in high-end laser bore sights aren’t exactly readily available at convenience stores. They’re not impossible to get but you may have to take a trip to a store specialized in electronics to replace them which can ruin a day in the field.

Durability

Some of the cheaper brands of bore sighter will have aluminum bodies and a tendency to bend if dropped. The trade-off is pretty obvious, even a small bend will greatly reduce the accuracy of your gadget and can render it completely useless.

Look for metal casings and thicker bodies. While miniature versions do exist, they’re much more prone to breaking if slightly mishandled than full sized pieces.

Size Fittings

Most of these will fit a wide variety of rifles, but the claims can be a little bit off in the end. The adaptors that come with a boresighter can vary.

They might, in theory, be able to fit anything from a .22LR to a .50BMG with ease. That’s not really going to matter if you’re not able to get a snug fit on the rifle and you really don’t want to be jamming random items onto the end in an attempt to make it fit.

Higher numbers of adaptors are better, but if you commonly shoot in oddball calibers like .270 or .338 with your hunting rifles then you may want to go with a high-end brand that offers separate adaptors for sale.

Overall Accuracy

The overall accuracy of your new bore sighter is pretty important, but you’ll actually find that it’s not quite the overriding factor.

The truth is, these devices are meant to help you get on paper so you can fine tune your optics from there. Most of them will let you get on paper at 100 yards, which is more than good enough.

Remember that no bore sighter is going to make the zero for you, you’ll always have to get the last couple of inches yourself. A particularly accurate one might let you start immediately zeroing at 100 yards, however, instead of starting at 50 or even 25.

Top 6 Laser Bore Sighter Reviews

We’ve pulled together a wide variety of different laser bore sighters to make sure that there’s something for everyone. With any of the following you’ll be in good hands, but which is the best will really depend on your own situation.

This wheeler laser bore sighter is great for someone with a lot of calibers who wants to check on their zero outdoors. It comes with a green laser which will make quick work of the task and it has a magnetic connection which is great for those who get a little bit squeamish about inserting anything into the barrel.

This one will work with both hand guns and rifles and it seems to be top notch as far as accuracy is concerned. Most users have found that they only need to fire a couple of live shots after it’s been set up to make sure that they’re on target.

That said… this is an expensive little device. The high build-quality, green laser, and extreme accuracy will make up for it and if you’re the type with a lot of firearms then the savings in ammunition will add up quickly.

One of the most commonly touted laser bore sighters around, the SiteLite Mag Laser Boresighter is a wonderful little piece of engineering that will quickly get you on target. It’s designed to get you on paper as quickly as possible, and it certainly delivers!

This laser bore sight kit stretches about six inches long, so it’s not what you’ll want to use to sight in sub-compact pistols or snub nosed revolvers but it works fine for most guns. It comes with adapters for most of the common calibers as well, so you can get a wide range of guns sighted right out of the box.

The main disadvantage here is that the length prohibits it from working with some firearms. If you’re using an uncommon caliber you’ll also need to buy a separate adapter to make sure you have the proper fit, so it pays off to check before making the investment.

If you’re okay with the red laser, then you can definitely save some money by adding this to your bag of gun accessories.

The Sightmark Triple Duty Universal Bore Sight is a good budget option for those who want a green laser but it can be a bit finicky. It’s well-built but suffers from some quality problems which mean you’ll need to spend some extra time with it to make sure things are perfect.

The good part is that the green laser is still visible at 100 yards and the entire thing fits in a small bag along with the battery. If you spend the time with it initially, you’ll be able to easily re-zero if you kept accurate measurements when using it the first time.

It’s also convenient to carry with you, coming with a small carrying case.

The battery and compartment also cause some issues but with a little bit of practice most people find it to be less irritating than they did initially.

If you want a budget, green laser bore sight then you’ll be in good hands with this one. Those who are sticklers for high-quality might want to remember that you get what you pay for.

Okeba offers this impressive little laser sighter for an absolute rock bottom price. It, understandably, has a few issues and requires the user to be careful while setting up with it but the whole thing is remarkably solid when it comes to getting on paper.

The .22 to .50 is kind of a misnomer, since it really only comes with adaptors for certain, common sizes of rifle calibers.

Unfortunately, the laser is pretty weak here so you’ll need a good target to make maximal use of the sighter on a sunny day. If you can get out while it’s a bit overcast or you’re willing to use it indoors it’s a good buy however.

At the price it’s sold for, it’s really not fair to compare it to super high-end bore sighters. When it comes to value for the money spent, however, this one is a real winner.

The SiteLite Ultra Mag Laser Professional Boresighter is pretty much the best around if you’re willing to work with a red laser. Top of the line quality combined with a huge amount of different adaptors makes the large price tag seem a lot smaller.

The supplied O-rings are great, good enough that you won’t have to rely on the magnetics to hold things in the barrel. This allows you to use the bore sighter even with guns that have a non-magnetic stainless steel barrel quickly and easily.

It’s easy to use, super fast, and the red laser maintains a tight focus over a long area when you compare it to some of the cheaper options on the market.

Overall, this is the best red lasered bore sighter we’ve ever seen and you should be quite impressed if you decide to spend the money on adding one to your collection of tools.

This bore sighter is cheap and pretty awesome overall… but it can be hard to use if you just snatch the instructions out of the box. Unlike many of the laser bore sighters available on the market, this one has to be adapted to an individual barrel.

When you insert it, you’re going to need to rotate it in a full circle. It will circumscribe a circle of about 6”-8” at 25 yards or so. Don’t panic, this is completely intended although the instructions that come with it don’t make it clear.

You’re going to want to position the laser precisely at 6 o’clock, or the very bottom of the circle. Once you’ve got it there, you’re good to go and it’s a remarkably accurate little device.

That really is the main flaw in the design, but if used properly it will equally perform with nearly any laser bore sighter on the market at a fraction of the price.

Pros

Super accurate

Fits a wide variety of rifles and pistols

Very affordable

Bright red laser

Batteries are easy to find

Cons

Our Pick for Hunters

The winner in this case is definitely the Wheeler Professional Laser Bore Sighter in green. Its combination of accuracy along with the daylight visible green laser makes it quick and easy to use both to sight in and for field use to check the zero on your scope after a fall.

Conclusion

A laser bore sighter is one of the best ways to save ammunition while you’re getting your scope to pinpoint accuracy. Indeed, they can be quite useful with nearly any variety of firearm and most people will quickly find that they’re pretty much indispensable. If you’ve been searching for the best laser bore sighter for some time, we hope that we’ve helped you find exactly what you need.

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I am Kevin who is a founder of deerhuntingfield.com; Here at Deer Hunting Field, we want to teach and educate. Hunting is a passion which has existed in mankind since almost the beginning, and with the advent of the internet, we can now share information, tips, and more with each other faster than ever before. This is a crucial part of our philosophy.

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